babies after breast cancer

Dear BM29

I have some experience to share, it may not be the one you like, but my intention is not to scare you in any way.

I was dx at the age 31, I had a 3 year old daughter at the time.  I had mastectomy without any other treatment at that time since the cancer was not invasive.  Then I took Tamoxifen for some time, I think I took it for 2 years, then I took a break since we wanted to have another baby.  My doctor did not have anything against that decicion.  It took me some time to get pregnant, I had one miscarrage, but in 2007 I gave birth to my second daughter.  I decided to breastfeed her and I did that for 14 months.  3 months after that I had MRI and was dx the second time, this time it was in my other breast.  My new doctor tells me that my pregnancy may have triggered my new cancer.  I finsihed my chemo yesterday (now that was a great feeling) and I will have 5 weeks of xrays in 3 weeks from now.  I dont have any regrets about my pregnancy, I just have to take a look at my wonderful litttle creature )  If I could go back in time, I would though have skipped the breastfeeding part or at least have it shorter.

I hope this will help.  I am sure that thera are more women that have their experiences to share that do not involve a new cancer.  Good luck to you, what ever your decicion will be.

Dips,

sorry I haven't been around  lately (attending summer school).  I was sent to do ultrasound becasue my GYN thought I might have fibroids after my pelvivc exam.  I got my transvaginal US done, but I forgot to ask about the thickness.  In any event, I got a call that they found a uterine polyp, so now I have to go and get that biopsied and/or removed.  That's scheduled next week.  Ugh... I wish I could just get a little break from having my female organs messed with so much this year.  My exchange surgery is scheduled only days after my polyp biopsy.  I almost wish I scheduled it after my exchange surgery so that I don't have to worry about waiting for results leading into another surgery. 

Byebye, check out the Natural Girls forum.  Many of them are taking DIM, which is a natural alternative.  I would too, except that I can't afford the extra expense at present,. so I'm just taking the tamoxifen, which is covered by my insurance 100%.  If I were in your situation, I would probably want to delay the tamoxifen for later and take my chances that the odds would be in my favor.

I am a nurse working in Labor & Delivery and met a patient yesterday with an unusual, but at the same time, inspiring situation.  She was diagnosed in January with stage 2 breast cancer, no lymph node involvement.  Sounds like she might have been in some kind of denial, because she didn't have surgery, a masectomy, until this past July.  At about that same time, she found out she was a couple of months pregnant.  She says that one of her doctors told her she definitely did not have to terminate, and that she shouldn't let anybody convince her otherwise.  She is now 8 months pregnant, refused to have any chemo during the pregnancy, will wait until after, but so far, is doing fine.  She says she is putting all her faith in God to get her through this safely.  

While I found her long delay in treatment to be a bit reckless, I also cheered her on, because she is 43 and I know that chemo could potentially put her into permanent menopause.  And I liked the fact that she is not letting the cancer control her life.  Just wanted to share a different perspective.

Oh Julia, I so hope you are able to get pregnant.  How old are you? It's just not fair that you want to so badly and would be willing to put your life on the line for it and yet, it doesn't seem to have worked out for you so far.  If it were to happen for you, I'd be rooting for you too!

With that woman, yes, she could have that baby now without a problem, my next mission is to find out why they aren't pushing for her to be induced early.  But maybe they are thinking, well she's already been delayed almost a year, what's another few weeks? 

RoseG - thanks for your advice and for sharing that inspiring story.  I don't know that I'd have delayed all my treatment either, but probably the most important thing is she firmly believes she is going to be OK.

Julia - I'm sorry you've had such trouble with fertility.  Hats off to you for correct all the habits you think are contributing to that.  It is easier said than done, I know.  While fertility might be your motivator, I'm sure the benefits are going to extend to every corner of your life.  I wish you good health and good luck!

Kaye 

Kaye, thank you for the kind words... I've been a little depressed the last few days about the possibility of not being able to have a baby. I just can't let myself think about how much the odds are stacked against me of I'll completely lose it. Ironically, as long as I stay focused on fighting this cancer, I'm in much better/more optimistic spirits... I guess it brings out the "fight" in me!

Rose, that is what scares me the most... surgery, I'm just "enh" (I've had half my boob cut out of me and am having more cut out on Wednesday, and I am so *over* caring), radiation, fine, but the idea of having to take estrogen-blocking drugs for 5 years (and therefore killing off any chance of my having a baby) just knocks the will to live right out of me. Thankfully, I've been learning about better ways to bring hormones into balance and prevent recurrences that don't entail throwing a 30-something into menopause... I agree, we need to work WITH our hormones to keep our bodies functioning well, not work AGAINST them!

It's nice to hear that some of you went on to have babies after dx. I was recently diagnosed in September/09 at the same time of my first pregancy at 8 weeks. My husband and I were married Nov/08 and were thrilled when we went off the pill in May/09 and got pregnant in July/09. We lost the baby (miscarriage) at 9.5 weeks at the end of September/09. I have since underwent surgery (mastectomy) and chemo (AC/T-3rd treatment tomorrow). It's been very difficult going from excitment of your dream of having a baby to no baby to having cancer! I am in a very dark place right now. I was 38 and just turned 39 this month. I can't help but worry that I will go into perm. menopause and not be able to have a child of our own (even if it was just one) It WOULD be a true miracle if it could happen!

Edit to add: My husband & I spoke to my onc prior to chemo to discuss embryo (conservation). He stronly discouraged it as he felt that treatment needed to start ASAP. He did not advise waiting 4-6 weeks. I hope that I do not regret making this decision. I felt I had to put my life first before the idea of a child. How does one argue that??? 

Frankie

mjm_va here on a different computer.

just a quick happy update - baby sister fiona was born on 3/2/10, a healthy 8lbs 4oz and 21.5 inches long. she is a serious eater, so while i'm breastfeeding now, i think the demand is going to quickly exceed the supply. that's ok, it keeps me on track for the mammo check-up and the docs assure me that early nursing is the most important. big brother henry is adjusting, i think he would have preferred a puppy, sharing mom is not easy

 so you may see me chiming in on some other forums - once i'm finished with the nursing, i'm looking at firing the frankenboobie and the 'operational' one for a new bionic set.  

Hi SKD,

I'm 28 and have just begun chemo. I saw a feritlity specialist also before hand as we had been planning to start a family too.  As my BC is hormone related my oncologist was telling me that I have to have hormone therapy for 5 years after chemo and rads which meant that I wouldn't be able to have children until after that. This absolutely freaked me out as we are more than ready now but obviously have to get through my treatment now.  HOWEVER, I saw the fertility specialist 2 days later (wish it had've been first!) and she said that MANY MANY women are able to have children at around 2 years after chemo finishes that seems to be what they consider the 'safe' timeline.  Just with me I would have to stop the hormone therapy for a while then go back onto it after having a baby which apparently is ok to do as long as all the tests come back ok. 

Both my oncologist and fertility specialist were confident that due to my age I shouldn't have any trouble with fertility as a result of the chemo (especially as the kind of chemo I'm having has a low risk). But you just never know so good to see the fertility specialist to find out all your options before hand. You are even younger than me so you should be fine

Hello!

It is good to hear that some women got pregnant after BC, especially in their late thirties. I was 33 when I got diagnosed in July 2009 and by the time I stop taking tamoxifen, I'll be 38.

But before even thinking about having kids, I have to worry about getting my periods back! It has now been 6 months since my last chemo and they still  haven't come back...

Recently I have had huge lower abdominal pains and cramps but still no periods. I am hoping these pains mean it is starting to work again!

Did you have any symptoms that your periods were coming back? Like pain and cramps?

SKD - that's a great result from the fertility treatment. But I am sure your ovaries will wake up. I did 6 months of AC + T and Zoladex ending in September last year. I refused Tamoxifen but did not intend to try to fall pregnant for at  least a year.  In February this year my period returned, and as of an initial scan last week I am pregnant. I'm much older than you (37) and if it happened for me it will surely happen for you!

Hey Marion,

 I don't know what SKD will say, but I did fertility treatment pre-chemo and I was 99% ER+. It is  only for a few weeks, and they give you lower doses of the hormones, and also give you Tamoxifen to refuse the risk further. For me it was totally a risk worth taking to ensure my fertility was preserved. My oncologist was fine with it so long as it did not delay chemo too much.

i was delighted and excited to read this post, i am 36 now and in complete menopause since chemo, i had fertility issues anyway which i had struggled to accept. i am meeting my oncologist shortly to discuss using donor eggs, we cant adopt as we tried that route and it would take about 8 years from now and by then i hope that i will have closure on it. my reiki practioner wants us to do fostering as she thinks i would be great at it, but unless we win the lottery i cant see us being able to afford for me to stay home full time which i think i would need to be prepared to do and handing them back would be heartbreaking.

we started trying 4 years ago for a wee baby but it was just not meant to be, we did the Holy Mary ivf to no avail and had signed up for an egg donation program when i was 34 but never got to use them as i was diagnosed with breast cancer not too long afterwards. my question is did any of you consider egg donation as a method of becoming pregnant? Congrats to the girls here who have shared there stories about having post bc babies and best of luck to the ones trying to join the circle.

Hi mmcmahan

My pregnancy is still in very early days (8.5 weeks) so I am not yet a complete success story, but for what it is worth, I finished chemo (and Zoladex shots to shut down ovaries)  in September 2009  and I conceived in late April 2010. So, seven months post chemo. It is far sooner than I  intended - I had intended to wait at least a year post-chemo, and am worried that the egg may not have been of good quality. Scans thus far show an increased miscarriage risk, but I am keeping my fingers crossed.